Great Thanksgiving Caper
by RainbowAurora17
Summary: The Chan Clan are participating in a Thanksgiving parade in Plymouth, Massachusetts. However, moments before the parade could start, a valuable golden statue is stolen. To make matters worse, another crisis occurs and the Chan Clan are blamed for it. Can the ten children prove their innocence?
1. Thanksgiving In Plymouth

**Chapter 1: Thanksgiving In Plymouth**

It was a beautiful autumn day in late November, and the world's famous detective, Charlie Chan, was vacationing in the state of Massachusetts. With him were his ten children, the Chan Clan, whom were asked to ride on a float in an upcoming Thanksgiving parade while dressed as pilgrims and Indians. Also, the six eldest children, Henry, Stanley, Suzie, Alan, Anne, and Tom, were asked to form the Chan Clan Band and perform while riding.

At exactly 9:00 a.m., the Chan family, driving their Chan Van, had arrived at a public park where the parade was going to begin later in the evening. After arriving, the Chan Clan got into their costumes. Henry, Stanley, and Suzie along with their youngest siblings, Mimi and Scooter, were dressed as pilgrims while Alan, Anne, and Tom along with their younger siblings, Flip and Nancy, were dressed as Indians.

"How do we look, Pop?" asked the eldest Chan child.

"You all look magnificent, Henry," the kind-hearted father answered.

"It's not fair," the youngest Chan child complained. "I wanted to be an Indian like Nancy and the chief!"

"Sorry, Scooter," his elder sister Nancy apologized, "but they didn't have any Indian costumes your size."

"She's right, Scooter," said their eldest sister Suzie.

"Aw, man," Scooter pouted. "I really gotta start taking more vitamins."

"Oh, stop whining, Scooter," his elder sister Mimi lectured. "You watch too much cowboy and Indian movies anyway. If you dressed like an Indian, you might start misbehaving more than you already do. A pilgrim is much more appropriate."

"Boy," Scooter growled, "one of these days…"

Annoyed with his youngest siblings' usual squabbling, Flip interrupted, "Knock it off, you two."

"Besides," their second eldest brother Stanley snickered, "it could be worse. Look at Chu-Chu's costume."

The Chan Clan all looked over at their dog, Chu-Chu, who was forced to wear a turkey costume for the Thanksgiving parade, much to his dismay.

"I think he looks cute," Mimi smiled. "Don't you, Chu-Chu?"

Just then, a Bulldog and a Boxer walked by. Upon noticing Chu-Chu in his turkey costume, both dogs fell out laughing, causing Chu-Chu to cover his face in shame.

"Sorry, Chu-Chu," Henry consoled, "but we needed someone to be the turkey and since Scooter wouldn't do it, that left you."

Chu-Chu growled at Scooter.

"Sorry, Chu-Chu," Scooter giggled, "but it was either me or you and, well…"

"Oh, cheer up, Chu-Chu," Nancy bubbled. "It's Thanksgiving, the best holiday of the year!"

"No way," Scooter disagreed. "Christmas is the best holiday."

"Well, Christmas is a nice holiday," Nancy gushed, "but Thanksgiving is the greatest! On Thanksgiving, there is a ton of food from turkey, to cranberries, to sweet potato pie, and so much other stuff to choose from. Oh, I can't wait! Thanksgiving is…"

"Dull as dirt," said the tomboyish Anne.

"Not looking forward to Thanksgiving this year, Anne?" asked Suzie.

"Don't get me wrong," Anne replied. "Thanksgiving's nice and all, but there's pretty much nothing to do but sit around and watch others yap all night and stuff their faces."

"Hey, but this year it's different," Stanley jokingly stated. "First, we get to ride on a float in a parade. _Then_ we'll just sit around and watch others yap all night and stuff their faces. And we're doing it in good ol' Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they first had Thanksgiving."

"Actually," his intelligent younger brother Tom corrected, "Thanksgiving was first done in Jamestown, Virginia. The first Thanksgiving _feast_ was in Plymouth, Massachusetts."

"Thank you, Professor," Stanley sarcastically grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"Still," Anne sighed, "it would be nice if something exciting would happen on Thanksgiving, at least once."

A truck horn was suddenly heard.

"I don't know if it counts as exciting, but check it out," the laid-back Alan pointed. "Here comes the mayor with the parade floats."

The Chan family watched as a limousine carrying the state's mayor arrived at the park along with a patrol car, several trucks, and many parade floats following.

"Come on, Henry," Stanley urged. "Let's go check out the float we'll be riding!"

"Hold it, Stanley," Henry suggested. "Let's go to the restrooms and switch out of our costumes first."

"Agreed," said Tom.

"With pleasure!" Scooter nodded as he dashed towards the restroom.

"Ruh-huh!" Chu-Chu barked as he followed his youngest owner.


	2. Golden Turkey

**Chapter 2: Golden Turkey**

After switching into their usual clothes, the Chan Clan and their father went over to meet the mayor as she got out of her limo.

"Pleased to meet you," the mayor shook hands with Charlie. "I am Mayor Yvonne Smith. You are Mr. Chan, the famous detective, correct?"

"Indeed, I am," Charlie greeted. "And I am pleased to meet you as well, Mayor Smith."

"I am also very well pleased," a gentleman who exited the limo said.

"Oh, Mr. Chan," Mayor Smith introduced, "this is my deputy mayor, Richard Berkley."

"A pleasure to meet you as well," Charlie shook hands with the deputy mayor.

As their father got acquainted with the mayor and her vice mayor, the Chan children looked at all the parade floats.

"So which one's ours?" Stanley asked.

Henry pointed over to his far right and sarcastically answered, "Maybe it's the one decorated with artificial fall leaves, fake trees, and has 'Chan Clan' written on it."

Not recognizing his brother's sarcasm, Stanley replied, "Hey, yeah! I think you're right!"

Henry face palmed. "Sheesh!"

Anne walked over to the Chan Clan float. "Eh," she shrugged, "not bad. It's definitely more decorative than the float we rode in the Mardi Gras."

Before Anne could attempt to touch the float, a voice shouted, "Hands off!"

Just then, a security guard approached. "Back away from the float, kid," he ordered.

"Oh, sorry, my fault," Anne backed away. "My sibs and I are supposed to be riding this float this evening and I just thought I'd get a closer…"

"I don't care if you owned this float," the guard snapped. "No one's allowed to approach these floats 'til later. Now get lost, kid!"

"Hey, man, lay off," a defensive Alan said, placing his hand on Anne's shoulder. "Don't talk to my sister like that."

"Then keep your sister away from these floats, kid," the guard scowled. "And I suggest you and the rest of your family stay away from 'em, too, for your own good."

"Calm down, Alki," another security guard said as he approached. "These kids didn't mean any harm. Why don't you just go and check to make sure the other floats are okay?"

The foul-tempered guard reluctantly stormed off.

"What's with him?" Henry asked.

"This is just a wild guess," said Stanley, "but I don't think he likes us."

"But what did we do to him?" Mimi asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Don't take it personally, kids," the nicer guard explained. "Officer Alki is like that every time he meets new people. You could say he has trust issues."

"That couldn't be more obvious," Suzie smirked.

Wanting to cheer up the Chan children, the security guard changed the subject. "So, are you kids looking forward to Thanksgiving today?"

"Oh, you bet!" beamed Scooter.

"Yeah," Nancy chortled, "I just can't wait for that big feast."

"And I'm looking forward to the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday," Suzie smiled.

"Why don't that surprise me?" an annoyed Anne murmured to herself.

After a good chuckle, the guard happily stated, "Ah, I'm quite fond of Thanksgiving myself. Hearing how the Indians and the pilgrims got together for a bountiful harvest and one of those Indians was my ancestor."

"Oh, really?" a curious Tom gasped. "Do tell more."

"Well," the guard explained, "as you know, Thanksgiving is when we're celebrating when the pilgrims and the Indians got together for a peaceful feast. What many don't know is one of the pilgrims, named Philip Ratclaire, harbored a deep resentment towards the Wampanoag Indians and tried to sabotage the feast and blame the Indians for it. However, his plans were foiled by my ancestor, a young Indian boy, along with a pilgrim boy, who was a close friend of his."

"Fascinating!" awed Tom.

"Wow!" Scooter smiled. "A real Indian officer!"

"Well," the officer corrected, "I'm actually only half-Indian. My mother is Asian."

"Interesting," complimented the famous detective as he walked over to the knowledgeable security guard. "As is your story of your ancestor playing a role in creating Thanksgiving, sir."

"Thank you," the security guard shook hands with Charlie. "Mr. Chan, I presume? I am Officer Wampanoag."

"Pleased to meet you," Charlie said.

"Hey, Wampanoag!" the rude voice of Officer Alki interrupted. "If you're done wasting time with the newcomers, how 'bout helping take out the cargo?"

"Coming, Alki," Officer Wampanoag sighed as he walked over to his companion.

Disgusted, Flip crossed his arms. "Boy, what a creep."

"Yeah, what a creep," young Scooter agreed.

"Easy, children," Charlie calmed his offspring. "Don't let someone upset you so easily."

"Agreed," the mayor assured the Clan as she walked over with her deputy mayor. "Give Alki time. He'll eventually change his mind about you. Now how about coming over to look at our special cargo?"

"What is this special cargo anyway?" Henry asked.

"Just a special something to put on your float, young one," Mayor Smith answered.

Accompanying Smith and Berkley over to a large truck, the Chan family watched as Alki and Wampanoag helped the truck driver unload a large crate. Once placing it on the ground, the two security guards opened the large box, revealing a 3-foot, solid gold statue of a certain bird.

"Wow! How pretty," Mimi awed.

"A splendid statuary of a Meleagris gallopavo made from the yellowish transition metal," the keen Tom clarified.

"Weird," a confused Scooter scratched his head. "I thought it was a gold statue of a turkey."

"It is," Alan stated. "That's what he said."

"Oh," said the youngest Chan.

Annoyed, Anne face palmed and sighed, "Oh, brother."

The two security guards then placed the statue onto a forklift and carried it to a nearby barn shed, followed by the vice mayor.

"A barn shed in a park?" Henry questioned.

"Maybe Old Macdonald's farm is somewhere nearby. Heh-heh-heh!" Stanley jested.

Not amused, Henry demanded, "Will you knock it off with the jokes?!"

After a good laugh, the mayor explained, "We had that shed built to please the children. Sometimes they like to go in and pretend to be farmers. However, we have it off-limits for Thanksgiving so we can use it to lock up the golden turkey until later."

"Is that statue really made of gold, Ms. Mayor?" Suzie asked.

"It is indeed," Ms. Smith replied. "It is a perfect 24-karat solid gold statue."

"If that's the case," young Flip considered, "you're practically begging for that bird to get stolen. Any pro thief could break into that old shack and swipe that statue."

"They could if they knew about it," Mayor Smith countered. "Except for all of us gathered today, no one even knows this statue exists."

As Deputy Mayor Berkley locked up the shed, Chu-Chu caught the scent of something mouthwatering. He walked over to the mayor's limousine and sniffed around the door of the back seat.

"Chu-Chu!" Mimi called over to her dog. "Leave the mayor's nice car alone."

"I'll get him." Nancy walked over to Chu-Chu and picked him up. Before walking back to her family, the ever-hungry daughter looked inside the vehicle through the half-rolled tinted window and saw a roasted turkey in clear food wrap on a plate in the back seat.

"Boy," Nancy slurped, "that sure looks good."

"Hey, kid!" yelled the foul-tempered Alki as he came over to the slightly chubby Chan daughter. "Get away from the mayor's car right now!"

"S-S-Sorry," the frightened Nancy stuttered. Swiftly, she ran back to her family, carrying Chu-Chu, and hid behind her brother Flip.

"Calm down, Alki," Mayor Smith assured her security guard. "The little girl was just curious."

"Is that your turkey, Ms. Mayor?" Nancy asked.

"Sort of," Ms. Smith answered. "After the parade, we're having a big Thanksgiving feast at city hall. I just picked up the turkey and will soon take it there."

After setting Chu-Chu down, Nancy went over to the Chan Van, grabbed a purple backpack she had with her, and pulled out a blue digital camera.

"Excuse me, Ms. Mayor Smith," the eighth Chan child requested, "may I take a quick picture of the golden turkey for a souvenir?"

"I don't see why not," the polite mayor approved.

"I'll open the door for her, Mayor Smith," said Deputy Mayor Berkley.

"You should," the mayor chuckled. "You have the only key to both the shed and that new special lock you'd just put up there."

"Yes, that is true," Mr. Berkley tittered.

"Wait for me," Mimi begged. "I want to see the statue again, too."

Along with Nancy and Mimi, the assistant mayor walked over to the barn shed and pulled out his keys to unlock it.

To their great surprise, the moment the barn door was opened, there was no statue!

"The statue!" gasped Deputy Mayor Berkley. "Mayor Smith, the turkey statue is gone!"

"Oh, dear!" cried the mayor. "But how?"

"Aiya," Charlie Chan sighed. "As my son would say, 'Wham bam, someone's in a jam.'"


	3. Runaway Float

**Chapter 3: Runaway Float**

The two security guards examined the inside of the barn shed with Charlie Chan, the mayor, and vice mayor.

"You know," Officer Alki suspected, "I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Chan and that mob of his had something to do with this."

The Chan kids, whom were outside of the shed, were offended by this false accusation.

"Hey," Flip asserted, "he can't pin this on us!"

"Yeah," Scooter repeated, "he can't pin this on us."

While searching inside the shed, the famous detective countered, "I must remind you, Officer, that none of us even knew of the statue's existence until today. For it to have vanished so soon, the thief must've had full knowledge of not only the statue, but its whereabouts as well."

"He's right, Alki," Officer Wampanoag agreed. "Don't be so quick to judge."

While looking inside the shed, the mayor noticed something amiss. "This is most strange."

"What is, Mayor?" asked Charlie.

"The floor," Mayor Smith clarified. "The floor was normally completely covered with hay. A precaution in case the children climbed too high and fell, but here in this certain spot in the back, most of the hay is gone."

"Maybe some of the kids who come in here took some home," Alki guessed.

"Hmm." Charlie walked over to the hay-less floor and, upon stepping on it, noticed something. "The floor is hollow here."

Back outside of the barn, the Chan Clan continued to observe the investigation.

"Pop's gonna need our help on this one for sure," Henry, while still watching, whispered to Stanley.

"Don't worry," his younger brother replied. "If that golden bird's nearby, it won't get by me."

"The thief couldn't have gotten far with it. I think we should…" Henry looked at Stanley and noticed him dressed as a hunter with a toy rifle. "What's with the disguise this time?!"

"Well," Stanley elaborated, "since we're looking for a turkey, I figure I'd be a hunter and track it down."

"Lose that stupid disguise and come on!" Henry ordered. "We'll check out those bushes near that baseball field over there. The statue might be hidden in them."

With Stanley back in his usual outfit, the two boys walked off to a small baseball field.

"Well, if anyone's got a suggestion, I'd love to hear it," Suzie shrugged.

"Hmm," Tom pondered. "I highly doubt the villain could have gotten very far with the valuable statuary. It is possible he stowed it somewhere nearby."

"Well, I don't have any better ideas," said Anne, "so let's start looking. Let's try all those trees down the road."

The four middle children walked down to the forest-like trees.

The four youngest Chan children were already down the street with their dog, Chu-Chu. As their four elder siblings passed them, they decided to examine a sailboat float that was to be pulled by a large black horse.

"Flip," Nancy cautioned, "if that grouchy security guard catches us near these floats, we'll be in big trouble."

"Ah, that big jerk don't scare me," her elder brother dismissed. "Besides, we gotta search these floats. If the crook hid the golden bird around here somewhere, it's gotta be on one of these floats 'cause only they're big enough to hide it."

Flip climbed aboard the boat float. "And besides," he continued, "if that security goon shows up, we'll be able to nab him on the spot."

"Do you really think that mean old Alki is the thief, Flip?" little Mimi asked as she accompanied her brother on the float.

"Who else?" Flip claimed. "You've seen how nasty he is. If that ain't the attitude of a crook, I don't know what is."

Scooter, too, climbed aboard the boat float. "I'm with you, Chief. It's gotta be that Alki guy."

"Men, always stick together," Mimi rolled her eyes.

While the three young Chans were chatting, a shadowy figure crept towards Nancy's purple backpack from behind. The mysterious person silently opened the bag, placed a certain wrapped turkey inside, closed the bag back up, and snuck away.

"Now what did I do with my backpack?" Nancy looked around for her missing bag, then soon spotted it near the wheel of the float. "Oh, here it is."

After grabbing her bag, Nancy accompanied her siblings onto the float. "Boy, it sure feels heavier all of a sudden."

Before the confused girl could open her backpack, she soon remembered something. "Oh, wait. Where's Chu-Chu?"

The four children looked around and quickly found their small dog sniffing the hind legs of the black horse.

"Chu-Chu!" Mimi commanded. "Get over here."

Immediately, Chu-Chu ran over to his owners and hopped onto the float.

"You naughty dog," Mimi scolded. "You shouldn't bother that horse."

"I'm afraid she's right, Chu-Chu," Nancy nodded. "You could've spooked that horse and gotten hurt."

"Come on, you guys," Flip urged his siblings. "Cut the chatter. We gotta find that statue before the parade this evening."

While the four youngest and Chu-Chu started searching the boat float, the mysterious figure returned, hiding behind a pumpkin float.

Grabbing a large rock, the unknown person took aim at the horse and threw the rock at one of the horse's hind legs, causing it to panic and run, taking the float carrying the four youngest Chans and Chu-Chu with it!

The four youngest helplessly held onto each other as they rode the out-of-control float.

"Runaway boat float!" Scooter shouted.

"Stop, horse!" Nancy begged. "Please, stop!"

"What do we do?" Mimi asked Flip.

"We need reinforcements and now!" he replied.

Using his Chan-Com, Flip called for assistance. "Henry! Come in, Henry! Emergency!"

Back in the park while searching within a bush, the eldest Chan child received Flip's call.

"I hear you," he responded. "What's wrong, Flip?"

"We're stuck on a runaway float," Flip replied, "and we can't stop…or rather, the horse won't stop!"

"We're coming! Come on, Stanley!" Henry, followed by his younger brother, made an immediate dash for the Chan Van and drove after the boat float. This did not go unnoticed by the untrusting Officer Alki.

While driving, Henry called his four younger siblings nearby. "Anne, Suzie, Alan, Tom, come in. A runaway float carrying Flip and the others is rolling down the road. Keep watch for it."

Upon receiving their brother's warning, the four middle children walked from the trees and onto the road.

"See anything?" Anne asked her siblings.

"Nothing yet," said Alan.

Anne turned to look further ahead. "I wonder how they got stuck on a runaway float anyway."

Alan, Tom, and Suzie continued looking in the opposite direction and soon saw the black horse heading their way carrying the float. Immediately, they ran back to the trees.

Anne noticed this, however, remained completely unaware of the stampeding horse coming from behind. "Hey, where are you guys going? We haven't found that float."

Fortunately, Alan quickly grabbed his sister's arm and pulled her out of the way before the horse and the float could run her over.

"Oh," Anne nervously chuckled after noticing her near misfortune, "there it is."

Just then, Henry and Stanley pulled up in the Chan Van.

"Hurry, get in!" Henry yelled. "We gotta catch up to that float!"

The four middle children rushed into the Chan Van and Henry continued driving after the speeding float. Unfortunately, the horse soon ran down a hill-like road causing it to go faster.

"Oh, those poor kids!" Suzie worried.

"How are we gonna stop 'em?" Stanley fretted.

"I got an idea," Anne instructed. "Henry, pull up to that horse."

"You're not gonna do anything crazy, are you?" her inventive brother suspiciously chided.

"Oh, please, Alan," the young tomboy retorted, "what kind of kid do you think I am?"

"She's definitely gonna do something crazy," Alan muttered to himself.

Following Anne's lead, Henry drove up to the swift horse.

"Alright, Anne, so what are you gonna…" before Henry could finish his question, a shout was heard.

"BANZAI!" Anne leaped right out of the back seat window and onto the horse's back.

"Anne!" Henry shouted.

"I told you, Henry, the girl needs a leash," Alan said to his eldest sibling.

Back on the horse, Anne pulled its reins. "Whoa, horsey! Whoa!"

The moment the horse reached the bottom of the road, it came to an instant halt, as did the float.

The Chan Van drove up to the float.

"You guys alright?" Henry asked his four youngest siblings.

"Yeah, Henry," Flip replied. "We're fine."

"Scared silly, but fine," a terrified Mimi quavered.

Anne leapt off the black horse, feeling thrilled. "Wow! That was neat! I've never ridden a horse going that fast before. It was the greatest! I could do it again!"

It didn't take long for Anne to notice her four elder siblings out of the Chan Van, angrily staring at her for her dangerous stunt. "Or not," she quickly corrected her previous comment.

The Chan children soon heard a vehicle approaching and looked behind them. Coming down the street was the mayor's limousine. After pulling up to the Chan Van, their father, the mayor, and deputy mayor exited the limo.

"Is everyone alright?" the concerned detective asked.

"Yeah, Pop," Henry answered his father. "Everyone's fine."

"Would someone like to explain what happened?" Charlie questioned.

"I'll tell you what happened," stormed Officer Alki as he got out the limo. "Those kids tried to steal one of the parade floats!"

"Yeah, that's exactly what…" Stanley chuckled, then realized what the fiery security guard just said. "Wait, what?!"

"We did not, you big fibber!" Nancy argued.

"Yeah," Flip bickered. "The horse just went crazy and ran off with us."

"I know what I saw," Alki accused. "First, four of 'em rode off with the float. Then the rest of them followed."

Scooter attempted to attack the bad-tempered officer, but Mimi restrained him. "You can't talk about us like that, you creep!" the youngest Chan son fumed.

"I bet they even stole the mayor's turkey, too," Alki suspected.

"What do you mean 'stole the mayor's turkey'?" Henry asked.

"Well, you see," Deputy Mayor Berkley explained, "when we got into the limousine to follow you, we discovered that the mayor's turkey had vanished."

"And like I said," Alki again accused, "I bet one of them took it."

"We did not!" Nancy objected.

Officer Alki looked at Nancy's purple book bag and noticed its unusual size.

"Oh?" he confiscated her backpack. "Then what's in the bag?"

"Hey!" Nancy cried. "That's mine!"

"And _this_ is the mayor's!" Officer Alki pulled out Mayor's Smith's turkey from Nancy's backpack, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

"I don't know how that got in there!" the second youngest Chan daughter bawled. "Pop, honest, I really don't know!"

"I know, Nancy," Charlie calmed his daughter. "I do not believe you or any of my children would steal anything."

"I agree with Mr. Chan," Officer Wampanoag nodded. "There has got to be a logical explanation for this."

"Oh," sighed Mayor Smith, "I wish to believe you, Mr. Chan, but I'm afraid the evidence is just too strong."

"Please, Ms. Mayor," the wise detective promised. "I give you my word. I will find the golden turkey and prove my children's innocence in time for the parade later."

"Fine, Chan," Officer Alki warned, "but, believe me, if you don't, your children are off to the juvenile detention center…all of them!"

"Wham bam, are we in a jam!" said Stanley.


	4. The Search For Evidence

**Chapter 4: The Search For Evidence**

Late in the afternoon, the Chan kids and Chu-Chu were sitting around the inside of their hotel suite feeling distraught.

"Well, Annie," Alan gibed, "you wanted a Thanksgiving that was more exciting. How's this?"

"Aw, zip it," his tomboyish sister seethed.

"I still don't understand how that turkey got in my bag," Nancy glumly said.

"Obviously, the crook planted it there to set us up," Flip figured. "Ugh! How could Pop send us back to the hotel at a time like this? We should be out there helping to clear our names."

"Boy," Scooter huffed, "I just wish I could get a hold of this bad guy for just a minute."

"Scooter," Mimi scolded, "how many times do I have to tell you to behave?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you to quit telling me what to do?" her younger brother snapped.

"Please, you two," Nancy lamented. "This isn't the time for this."

"Yeah, knock it off," Flip ordered. "We gotta figure a way out of this."

"And if we don't figure out something soon, we'll be spending the holidays in juvie for the next two and a half years," Stanley sadly sighed.

"Oh," Mimi whined, "we gotta do something! I'm much too sweet to be locked up!"

Scooter rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother."

"The most appropriate solution to our predicament would be to return to the scene of the crime to investigate further," the intelligent Tom suggested.

"But won't Pop be there?" Suzie asked.

"Probably not," the Chan Clan leader acknowledged. "I heard Pop say something about heading to city hall after looking around the park some more. We could wait 'til he leaves, then continue looking around the park ourselves, starting with that shed."

"Great idea, Henry," smiled Suzie.

"Well, gang, let's move out!" Henry commanded.

"Charge!" Henry and Stanley shouted as they ran out the hotel door.

"Gangway!" Anne, Alan, Suzie, and Tom shouted as they followed their elder brothers.

"Geronimo!" Flip, Nancy, Mimi, and Scooter shouted as they followed their elder siblings.

Chu-Chu barked and followed the Clan.

Back in the park, Charlie had just finished searching around the outside of the barn.

"Find anything, Chan?" asked Officer Wampanoag.

"A few things," Charlie replied. "I believe I know who the culprit is, but I need to find the right evidence to bring him in."

"It's really strange," Wampanoag thought. "This ordeal reminds me of the story involving my Indian ancestor that my grandfather told me about as a child. He mentioned that Philip Ratclaire tried to sabotage the first Thanksgiving feast by first digging a tunnel from the feast area to the Indian tribe area. Then he stole the turkey, planning to pin the theft on the Indians."

"A tunnel, you say?" Charlie inquired. "Interesting. May we discuss more of this on the way to city hall?"

"Certainly," Wampanoag nodded, "but I still don't know what you'll expect to find there."

After entering the patrol car, Wampanoag and Charlie Chan drove off to the city hall building.


	5. Return To The Park

**Chapter 5: Return To The Park**

Nearby, the Chan Clan watched as their father drove off with Wampanoag to the city hall building.

"Alright," Henry commanded, "Pop just left. Now's our chance."

"But, Henry," Stanley pointed straight ahead, "that crabapple Alki is guarding the entrance to the park. If he sees us, we got a one-way ticket to the slammer for sure."

"That's where Plan B comes in," Henry replied.

Minutes later, the Chan Van drove up to the park, heavily decorated and designed to resemble a dragon. On top of the vehicle, Chu-Chu stood wearing his yellow dragon mask.

When Officer Alki looked in the driver and passenger seat, he saw only Henry and Stanley, both whom were disguised as delivery men, with Henry wearing a false beard and Stanley wearing a false mustache. The other eight children were nowhere in sight.

"What is this?" Alki questioned.

"We're just delivering a late float, sir," Henry, using a rough disguised voice, said.

"Ah, fine," the security guard, not recognizing the disguised Chans, approved. "Get going."

Henry drove on and entered the park.

Upon entering, the rest of the Clan revealed they had ducked down and were hiding under black sheets the whole time and came out of hiding once all was clear.

Within a moment, the Chan Van had reached the barn shed.

After removing their disguises, Henry and Stanley exited the Chan Van, followed by Chu-Chu and the rest of their siblings.

Unfortunately for the ten children, the shed was locked back up, so they couldn't get inside.

"Hey, look up there," Tom noticed something up high. "An opened window. We could climb on each other's shoulders and get inside."

"Great idea," smiled Stanley. "Let's do it."

Anne, however, saw something on the side of the barn. "Uh, wouldn't it be easier to…"

"Anne, please," Tom insisted. "I'm certain we fellas can deal with this."

"Just leave it to the Chan men," Flip proudly said.

"Yeah, the Chan men," Scooter agreed.

Within minutes, Alan was on Stanley's shoulders and Tom was on Alan's. Tom was able to climb through the window and enter the second floor of the barn.

"What took you?" said the voice of Tom's tomboyish older sister.

Tom looked down and found all four of his sisters already inside the shed.

"Anne," he gasped. "How did you get in?"

"There were four windows on the bottom floor of the barn, genius," Anne irritably answered, "and guess what? They were all opened!"

Later, the ten children and Chu-Chu were all inside of the shed.

"Okay, everyone," Henry instructed, "search everywhere. There's got to be a clue to how the turkey disappeared here somewhere."

While the kids searched, Chu-Chu sniffed around inside the hay. He soon saw something shiny flashing from behind a bucket.

Meanwhile, the ten Chans were standing in the hay-less area.

"Most strange," Tom felt around the floor. "It definitely feels hollow here."

"Maybe there's a trap door here," the youngest Chan child guessed.

"Oh, Scooter," Mimi disagreed, "you've been watching too many mystery movies."

Chu-Chu barked to his owners.

"Shh!" Henry whispered. "Keep it down, Chu-Chu. We don't want Alki to know we're here."

Chu-Chu walked to the children carrying the object he found in his mouth.

"Hey," asked Flip, "what's that he's carrying?"

Alan took the object. "Looks like some sort of remote. But there's only one button on it. I wonder what it does."

The moment Alan pressed the button, the floor opened beneath the children, causing all ten and Chu-Chu to fall through. The floor closed back up seconds afterwards.


	6. The Hidden Tunnel

**Chapter 6: The Hidden Tunnel**

The Chans luckily fell only seven feet below ground.

"Been watching too many mystery movies, huh?" Scooter mocked Mimi. "Girls don't know anything."

"Care to repeat that?" the feminist Anne threatened.

"U-U-Uh," Scooter stammered, "n-n-no, not me."

"I-It's a little dark in here," Nancy gulped as Mimi clanged to her.

"No worries," said Tom. "Fortunately, I have a portable hand-held electrical device with a light-emitting diode glass tube."

"A what?" asked Suzie.

"A flashlight," Alan translated.

Right away, Tom turned on his flashlight and soon discovered something. "Hey, look. Up ahead. A tunnel."

"Where do you think it goes?" Suzie nervously asked.

"Don't know, but…" Before Henry could give his theory, Chu-Chu whistled to his owners.

The kids looked down and saw Chu-Chu pointing to some tracks on the ground.

"Footprints," Tom informed. "And wheel tracks, wagon wheel tracks, to be precise."

"And look," Alan added. "A trail of hay. They follow the tracks right down the tunnel."

"I get it," Henry deduced. "After the statue was put into the barn, the crook must've used that remote to drop it down here and towed it away some time later."

"And I bet if we follow that trail, we'll find the golden bird, too," the eager Flip guessed. "Let's go!"

After several minutes of walking down the tunnel, the Clan eventually found a path going upward. At the very top, some sort of door was seen. Since there was no knob, the Chans' only option was to push the door open. Henry and Stanley pushed as hard as they could, but it felt as though something heavy was on top and preventing them from opening the door. The rest of the Clan assisted their two elder brothers, and together they managed to push open the door above them.

Peeking through the entryway, the Chan Clan found themselves in the ground of someone's front yard. The door that was covering the hole they were just climbing out of, and which was really just a large wooden board, was heavily covered with dirt and grass, perfectly camouflaged to hide in the ground.

"Oh, great," Flip complained. "All that walking for nothing."

"Really?" Anne quickly caught sight of something. "Then look over there."

The young tomboy pointed to the residence's garage, which was left opened. Within the garage, was the golden turkey statue placed inside a hay-filled wagon!

The children and Chu-Chu ran to the golden turkey.

"Alright!" Stanley cheered. "We found the bird!"

"And as a bonus, we found the crook's hideout!" Flip exclaimed.

"But whose house is this?" Mimi asked.

"Hey, look!" Scooter pointed to the residence's mailbox.

The children were shocked to see the name on the mailbox was "Wampanoag."

"So Officer Wampanoag stole the statue?" asked Suzie.

"Sure looks that way," sadly nodded Alan.

"I should've known," Flip ranted. "That good cop bit was just a ruse. He's our pigeon for sure!"

"Yeah, he's our pigeon," Scooter again agreed with his brother.

"No!" the fair Nancy objected. "I won't believe it! I refuse to believe that nice Mr. Wampanoag would steal the statue and frame us!"

"Nance," appealed Flip, "cool it. I don't wanna believe it either, but the proof is right here in front of us."

"Flip's got a point," Anne theorized, "but then again, Nancy could be right. I mean, what if the crook just planted the turkey here to set up Wampanoag like he did us?"

"That is a definite possibility," Tom said.

"Yeah, but we should probably worry about that later," Henry advised. "Right now, let's just get this statue back to the park."

"Right," Suzie complied. "And we should do it before something else goes wrong."

"Aw, come on, Suzie. What could go wrong?" Stanley scoffed before quickly noticing something frightening. "U-U-Uh, apart from a scary-looking Indian character charging right at us with a whip?!"

"What?!" puzzled his nine siblings before Stanley pointed down the street to a man in an Indian chief costume, wearing a skull mask over his face, heading towards them, carrying a whip!

"Quick!" Henry ordered. "Grab the statue and head for the hole!"

With Tom and Alan pulling the wagon carrying the golden turkey, the ten kids and their dog ran back down the hole and headed down the tunnel with the masked Indian chasing after them.


	7. The Thanksgiving Bandit Revealed

**Chapter 7: The Thanksgiving Bandit Revealed**

The Chan Clan ran as fast as they could down the long tunnel until they'd finally reached their starting point.

Unfortunately, there was no path or stairway to reach the top and get back inside the barn shed.

"What do we do now?" fretted Scooter.

"We gotta find a way to get up there and back inside the barn," Henry declared.

Stanley, noticing the masked fiend getting closer, gulped, "And we better figure out something some time _before_ that Indian psycho gets here!"

In an instant, the youngest Chan child spotted something within the hay in the wagon.

"Hey, look at this." Scooter pulled out a couple of boxes of large fireworks. "Why don't we use these on the creep?"

"Scooter Chan!" Mimi scolded. "Don't go around fooling with fireworks! They're too dangerous for a child like you."

"Seriously?" yelled Scooter. "At a time like this?!"

Before his argument with his bossy elder sister could go any further, Alan took the boxes of fireworks from his youngest brother. "Hey, great! This is just what we need!"

The inventing genius grabbed all of the boxes of fireworks inside the hay and placed the many explosives under the wagon.

Afterwards, he grabbed two nearby rocks and smacked them together to light the fuses.

"Alan," Mimi berated, "you shouldn't light so many fireworks around Scooter. You could hurt his young eyes."

"Not now, Mimi," Alan dismissed his youngest sister. "Okay, everybody climb aboard."

Alan climbed inside of the wagon with the golden turkey. His siblings and Chu-Chu followed.

At that very moment, the masked Indian just caught up with the Chans. However, before he could attack them with his whip, the fireworks went off.

Exploding from beneath, it caused the wagon to shoot up like a rocket. Before they could crash through, Alan used the remote Chu-Chu found earlier to open the trap door above them.

The instant they were back inside the barn shed, Henry shouted, "Jump!"

Henry and Stanley grabbed the golden statue, Mimi grabbed Chu-Chu, and all ten children leaped out of the wagon and onto the hay-covered floor. The rocket-like wagon fell and the trap door again closed soon after.

"Whoa! That was amazing!" Anne excitedly exclaimed. "Can we…"

Alan immediately cut off his adventurous younger sister. "No, we are not doing that again!"

"Spoilsport," Anne muttered, crossing her arms.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a familiar angry voice said.

Upon raising their heads, the Chan Clan found Officer Alki standing in front of them with their father.

"Look at that, Chan," Alki sneered. "Your ten little hooligans caught red-handed with the goods."

Standing up with his siblings, Henry defended, "Wait! This isn't what it looks like."

"No need to explain, Henry," Charlie reassured. "I know none of you are responsible for stealing either the golden turkey or the mayor's turkey."

"I don't believe they are either," Officer Wampanoag entered the barn through the window and agreed.

"How 'bout some proof to back up your words, Chan?" Officer Alki demanded.

"Certainly." The wise detective walked to the back of the barn, standing only several inches away from the hay-less area. "The key to this mystery is the hollow floor here."

"There's a trap door there, Pop!" Scooter told his father.

"Here's the remote to it right here." Alan gave the remote to Charlie.

"Thank you, Alan." The detective took the remote and, after pressing the button, opened the trap door.

The two security guards gasped in amazement. Approaching the opened floor, they soon saw the masked villain, knocked unconscious from being too close to the fireworks.

"Who's that?" Officer Alki asked.

Despite never meeting the crook personally, the sharp-witted detective already knew who it was. "I believe this gentleman is the _real_ Thanksgiving bandit, but you know him better as…Deputy Mayor Richard Berkley."

"Huh?!" the Chan Clan were shocked, as were the security guards.

Minutes later, the barn was reopened and the culprit was in custody and unmasked. As Charlie Chan said, he was revealed to have been the vice mayor.

"How were you tipped off, Chan?" he snarled.

Charlie explained his deduction, "As said before, only someone who knew of the golden statue's existence long before now could've made it disappear so fast and there were only four who knew: you, the mayor, and the two security guards here. Also, you're the only one of the four who has the keys to this barn. Therefore, only you could've had that trap door built there. In addition to that, I spoke to the two guards. They informed me where you had the statue placed, which was right where you had your trap door planted."

"Too bad for him he dropped that remote to the trap door some time while Pop and the guards were doing their investigation," Stanley snickered.

"I don't understand," said Mayor Smith, who had just arrived. "Why?"

"He appears to be not too fond of Thanksgiving, much like his ancestor," Charlie answered.

"His ancestor?" Officer Wampanoag asked.

"Indeed, Wampanoag," the brilliant Charlie further explained. "While searching his office in city hall, I found out something very interesting: Deputy Mayor Berkley is the descendent of the Thanksgiving scoundrel, Philip Ratclaire. He had a map of the tunnel his ancestor dug, which was passed down from generation to generation in his family. Then, after meeting Officer Wampanoag several months ago, he had this barn shed built to carry out his plan."

"But the tunnel lead to Officer Wampanoag's house," Flip confirmed.

"Which, during the 1600s, was the homeland of the Wampanoag Indian tribe," Charlie continued. "Apparently, Berkley also shares his ancestor's disliking for Indians, so he figured the perfect way to ruin Thanksgiving and avenge his ancestor was to frame one, and who better than the descendent of the Indian child who foiled his ancestor? However, when we came along, he feared we would interfere with his scheme, so he quickly devised a plan to frame my children to get us out of the way."

"I never would've guessed," Mayor Smith shamefully shook her head. "Arrest him."

Officer Wampanoag and Officer Alki took the villainous vice mayor to their patrol car and drove away with him.

Standing proud, Flip smiled, "Guess that'll teach him not to mess with the Chans, right, Scooter?"

"Right, Chief," Scooter nodded.

"Well, Mr. Chan," Ms. Smith sadly sighed, "I owe you my thanks, but at the same time, I owe you an apology. For a brief moment, I was actually starting to believe your children were guilty of theft."

"It's quite alright, Ms. Mayor," said Charlie.

"Yeah," Henry forgave, "no hard feelings."

"Thankfully, it all worked out," Suzie agreed.

Chu-Chu barked to show he agreed with his owners.

"To show my appreciation," the mayor offered, "I would like to invite you all to join our Thanksgiving dinner later at city hall after the parade."

"Oh, that would be great! Super!" Nancy beamed. "Can we, Pop? Please?"

"Well," the thoughtful father chuckled, "if you insist, Ms. Mayor. I'll accept your offer."


	8. Happy Thanksgiving

**Chapter 8: Happy Thanksgiving**

Later that evening, there was a beautiful Thanksgiving parade taking place. The Chan Clan were back in their pilgrim and Indian costumes and Chu-Chu was back in his turkey costume. All were riding their Thanksgiving float with the golden turkey statue properly placed on it.

While the four youngest and Chu-Chu waved to the crowd, the six elder children formed the Chan Clan Band and performed numerous songs, one of which was their old song " _Whodunit_ ".

After the parade was over, Charlie and his children, whom were still in their costumes, joined the mayor and several other staff members at city hall for a great Thanksgiving feast.

"Oh, boy!" Nancy marveled. "Look at all the yummy goodies!"

"You said it!" Stanley agreed. "I don't know where to start!"

Feeling concerned for the mayor, Charlie Chan walked over to her. "Ms. Mayor," he apologized, "I am deeply sorry for you no longer having an assistant mayor. I do so hope you will be alright."

Alan also apologized, "And I'm sorry I used up all the Thanksgiving fireworks you had stashed in the hay. They must've ended up in the wagon by mistake when Berkley stole the turkey."

"Oh, that's okay, young Alan," Ms. Smith assured. "And I'm fine, Mr. Chan. If anything, I took your advise and decided I will make Officer Wampanoag my new deputy mayor starting tomorrow."

The Chan children cheered upon hearing this.

"That's great news!" smiled Henry.

"Yeah, he deserves it," said Flip, "unlike that jerk Alki."

"Ah," the mayor added, "and speaking of Alki, he asked me to give you kids something."

The mayor pointed over to the float the Chan Clan were riding earlier in the parade, though without the golden turkey. "You are welcomed to take your parade float home with you when you leave within a few days."

While Charlie felt it was a thoughtful gift, he knew it couldn't be accepted. "Thank you, Ms. Mayor, but I'm afraid we cannot afford to take such a large cargo with us."

This true statement caused his children to groan in disappointment.

"No need to worry," the mayor informed. "Officer Alki paid for the transportation of the float himself out of his own salary. It's his apology gift for the harsh way he treated your children."

The ten children immediately smiled in delight.

"Wow," Nancy praised. "I guess deep down, he's not such a bad guy after all."

"Guess not," Mimi agreed and nodded.

"Ooh, do we get the black horse, too?" Anne asked.

"Annie!" Alan chastised.

"Alright, alright," Anne quickly took back her question, then asked, "But seriously, can we keep the costumes? I kinda like them."

"Me too," Suzie giggled as she looked at her reflection in a nearby mirror.

"I don't see any harm in that," Mayor Smith approved. "You kids certainly deserve them."

"Great!" said Henry.

"Fantastic!" exulted Tom.

All but Scooter and Chu-Chu were pleased to hear this.

"Oh, great," the youngest Chan child sarcastically groaned.

Chu-Chu whined and face palmed.

"Now what's say we all sit down and eat, shall we?" Mayor Smith generously said.

"Yeah!" the ten children cheered.

With the mayor and the city hall staff members, the Chan family sat down and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

THE END


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